"THISJUSTIN"

Group Value- Collaboration

"Our approach to leadership development views collaboration as more than merely coming together around a predetermined vision or approach. Rather, we see collaboration as being most centrally about how people value and relate to each other across differences in values, ideas, affiliations, visions, and identities. Collaboration is not only an efficient and effective way to get the “task” accomplished, but is also a powerful way to learn about ourselves and others in the process."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Collaboration is defined as the action of working with someone to produce something.  Working in groups is unique because everybody brings different views, backgrounds, and opinions to the table.  Before my experience with working in groups in college, my view of collaboration was negative because I always felt like a lot of group work was left on my shoulders to complete.  However, over the course of my time here at Virginia Tech I learned the importance of utilizing the differences among team members in order to work together to reach our goals.  One of my senior level classes, Strategic Management, was a class that brought together all different majors in the Pamplin College of Business.  We have all had different learning backgrounds, expertise, and experience.  This course was set up to have all group work that consisted of in-depth case analysis over the semester.  My team for this course consisted of 4 other individuals from different majors, and it was cruicial that we worked together to analyze, formulate, and implement a plan from the case studies we were given.  It was tough at first to connect and understand our backgrounds, but setting long-term goals and a vision allowed us to begin to collaborate and understand eachother.  The ideas and work for the cases were contributed by each team member, and by encouraging and working with our strengths and weaknesses for each member, we were able to exceed beyond our expectations.  Although it was difficult at times, I began to fully understand that there is no "I" in team, and utilizing each person allowed us to collaborate and have more successful cases.  Collaboration is an extremely important tool that we will use for the rest of our lives.  Next year, I will be working for Capital One in the Project Management Rotation Program.  For my role, I will be expected to work with teams to plan and implement company wide projects.  In order for me to succeed in this role, I will have to use the experiences and practices that I gained over the past four years to help me work with other employees and make a difference at Capital One. 

 

 

 

"Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."